Puffin Creative

How did they get their names?

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:36:44 +0000

You hear about famous brands, such as Coca-Cola, Amazon, LEGO, Nike and Adobe, all the time.

These brands are world-famous and some of the most advertised; and their logos, instantly recognizable—but do you know how their names came about and what they actually mean?

Based on the Wikipedia list, online magazine Bored Panda has made a visual list of famous company name etymologies.

How many of these ‘fun facts’ did you already know?

Inspired by Daft Punk

admin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:21:54 +0000

Daft Punk are an electronic dance duo formed by French producers Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo in Paris in 1993. Their music is a fusion of electronic styles including techno, house and disco that has since been described as ‘French house’. The duo are protective of their physical identities and are usually depicted wearing masks or with their faces out of focus – this was initially through shyness, although the image of man-machines was in keeping with the electronic nature of their music. Seeing as I love Daft Punk I though I would show you 5 of my favourite pieces of artwork that have been inspired by them. These inspired me no end, not only musically but as a concept and the way the market themselves.

Paper- Sketchbook app for the iPad

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:05:58 +0000

Paper is a new app for the iPad. It was developed by Fifty Three design studio, they say the app is “the simplest, most beautiful way to create on the iPad”. The app works very much as a sketch book, you can capture your ideas as sketches, diagrams, illustrations, notes or drawings and instantly share them across the web. Check out the video after the jump for details on this elegant app in action.

After playing with this for several hours it is suprisingly easy to use and pretty addictive check it out! Free in the app store

Vintage Spray can prints released

5haun — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:00:16 +0000

There’s this fellow named Roger Gastman out there, one of those guys whose work you’ve almost certainly seen even if you don’t know his name, and what we’ve got here today is a set of three prints arranged by him for your consumption. These prints are part of a greater project by the name of “Tools of Criminal Mischief,” a limited edition book to which these prints “The Cans” are a companion. Before you start having a heart attack over how lovely these combinations of ink and paper are, let’s talk for a moment about who this legendary everyman is, and why he loves to hang on to rust-collecting cans of poison so much.

First, you can get these prints right now (unless they’re sold out of course) over atGraffSupply for $95 USD each or $250 USD for a full set. Each print is part of an edition of 250, each is hand-numbered, and each of them is a Giclee Print on Epson Somerset Fine Art stock 255GSM. That means they aren’t a screenprint, they aren’t painted, they’re printed from a printer – a very, very nice printer on very, very nice paper. These will last you basically forever is what that means.

These cans were recently part of an exhibition at MOCA called Art in the Streets, and Gastman once again now has them in his home (or in a closet somewhere wrecking the linoleum on the floor, I’m not sure on that.) What I am sure on is that I’ve got some work by Gastman on my bookshelf right now. This is the guy who created the book Freight Train Art, helped start one of the coolest short-lived magazines in history SWINDLE with Shepard Fariey, (may this magazine rest in peace, by the way,) and back when he was 19 he borrowed $4,000 USD from his mother to start a magazine by the name of While You Were Sleeping, a graffiti inspired magazine that you won’t have a whole heck of a lot of luck finding any information about on the internet. Grab yourself an issue from Electronic Bay if you’re feeling lucky today.

The image you see here shows Gastman sitting amongst a small part of his massive collection of graffiti history, this photo taken by Freshly Serious back in March of 2011 for a post called Graffiti Gasping by S.D. Rockswell. Gastman is currently pursuing art projects, archival projects, and a general continuation of his collection of most excellent Graffiti artifacts. — thanks for the tip, RG!

Street Art Eutopia’s list of top 106 street art photos

admin — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:18:27 +0000

Street Art Eutopia’s list of top 106 street art photos this year is a great collection of some of the most creative and artistic art from all over the world. From minute models to massive murals and heavily detailed pieces, as well as simple but effective interpretations of inanimate objects, the pieces are generally very impressive examples of people’s skill, imagination and humour.

Here are just a few of our favourites but take a look through them all here.

Google: project glass

5haun — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:19:12 +0000

Fancy posing like Tom Cruise aka Ethan hunt from the famous Mission Impossible series when he wore those glares and read out a message. He threw away those glasses as an automated voice called out – this message will self destruct in five seconds – but you will definitely be keeping this pair brought from Google forever. Dubbed as Project Glass, these hi tech glasses are being developed by a team at Google X. Frequent travelers and globe trotters will be really kicked about this savvy contraption

Project Glass

Google Wants You To Get Off Your Phone and Smell the Roses

Just put these glasses on to view mails, web search results and also maps on a screen right in front of your eyes. GPS directions will be available whenever you need help to chart your way. Well, you can also video chat with these or even record and share videos with the camera implanted in the glasses. You can access weather forecasts from the world over. Also, all functions can be easily controlled with voice commands. In fact, you can trace friends who went astray while you were shopping together. All visuals will materialize on the small screen located at the top right corner.

The glasses actually run on a version of the Android operating system and embed a microphone icon often seen in Google products. Most probably motion sensors as well as 3G or 4G data connection will be included in the package. Google has staged this announcement to obtain customer feedback on these glasses. Though the search giant has not announced a release date yet, the specs will be out by the end of the year. Public testing will be conducted for some time and the goggles will retail for anywhere between $250 to $500. With this break-through Google seems to be a lot closer to its vision of wearable computing.

Avengers Custom Shoe Design

5haun — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:05:38 +0000

Hand painted by Sole Junkie, this one of the most amazing custom shoes I’ve seen. The color palette is great, the intensity of the artwork and the small details make it so unique. This custom shoes will sure bring out the avengers on everyone. Check it out!

For more about Sole Junkie visit his website solejunkie.com and stay tunned on his blog solejunkie.com/blog

Sole Junkie assumes to be a fan of the Avengers and who isn’t? The idea was to keep the base colors of the shoe intact and work over the original orange area, actually making it green to create more of a green monochromatic tone that worked well with red and black. He wanted to make the details very sharp for a close look and it turned out great.

I didn’t want them too flashy from a distance. I wanted to really break necks once you got up close and seen the details. I used a pair of Nike Dunk Highs and I was inspired by the Avengers: Thor, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America and a hint of a Villain…See if you can find him.

Original shoe

Sketches

I had did some crazy research…hours and hours on some of the talented comic book artists out there. Once that was done, I sketched out each character as I went along. Then I painted and did subtle wash like shading just to hint at tones. I do not take credit for the original comic book artwork. These are guys whose artwork I like. I placed them in areas of the shoe I think would work or fit.

Avengers x Sole Junkie

Details

Apple’s Mountain Lion OS X

5haun — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:21:00 +0000

Apple’s Mountain Lion OS X update will integrate Twitter. Photograph: Apple
Apple has released a preview of its next update for the Mac operating system, dubbed Mountain Lion.

The revamped OS mirrors several features of the flagship iPhone and iPad, including a new messaging app and Twitter integration.

“The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

“The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”

Mountain Lion will introduce popular iOS apps such as Messages, Notes, Reminders and Game Centre to the Mac for the first time.

The new operating system will be compatible with iCloud, Apple’s cloud-based storage system for music, films and other media. It will also introduce AirPlay mirroring, meaning Mac owners will be able to stream video content from their computer to a TV using Apple TV.

Apple said the Messages app will replace iChat and will allow users to send unlimited messages, photos and videos from their computer.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the latest release brings the Mac software closer to the iOS system on the iPhone and iPad.

“We see that people are in love with a lot of apps and functionality here,” Cook told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Thursday. “Anywhere where that makes sense, we are going to move that over to Mac.”

Cook did not rule out the possibilty of Apple using the same microprocessor chips in its iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, saying: “We think about everything. We don’t close things off.”

Microsoft is expected to release its new operating system, Windows 8, later this year. Like Apple’s Mountain Lion, Microsoft has borrowed features popular on smartphones running its Windows Phone system.

Cook denied to the Wall Street Journal that Microsoft was keeping the heat on the world’s most valuable company. “I don’t really think anything Microsoft does puts pressure on Apple,” he said.

The new software will go on sale from the Mac App Store in late summer this year, Apple said. The California-based company sold a record 5.2m Macs in the quarter ending in December, up 26% from the same quarter in 2010.

Beastie Boys are at it again

5haun — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:51:37 +0000

Beastie Boys are at it again with a set of three fully posable action figures for sale via their own website with proceeds going to charity. These figures may remind you of a similar set they put out back when Intergalactic Planetary came out back around the turn of 2000, and if you’re one of those collector folk who remember such an event and/or OWN said set, you’ll find that, yes indeed, these are the same trio in the same tin. They look so similar because they’re from the same run of 1,000 put out by A Bathing Ape‘s NIGO and produced by hisNowhere Limited production group.

Seeking an ancient interview by Internet standards, we’ve uncovered NIGO x BredBand talk conducted somewhere in the early 2000′s in which he speaks in detail about the figures and how they came about, along with who worked on them and how their clothing was made specifically by A Bathing Ape, in addition to a factoid about how NIGO had each of the Beastie Boys’ heads photographed 360 degrees for the project, but then lost his full set of the original photos. Indulge with us if you will:

Interviewer: What’s your deal?
NIGO: My name is NIGO, I’m 30 years old, from Tokyo. I started my clothing line namedA Bathing Ape in 1993 with my friend SKATE THING. And we started our toys section, Ape Play, and music label Ape Sounds in 1999. I released my own album, Ape Sounds,in 1999 which featured Ben Lee, Money Mark, Cornelius, U.N.K.L.E. and more. I will release a hip hop album featuring Biz Markie, Rakim, Beatnuts, GZA, and Flava Flav. And oh yes, Mario C remixed the tracks for the Ape Sounds remix album.
Interviewer: What other figures have you made?
NIGO: Futura 2000, U.N.K.L.E., SDP (A Japanese rap group) and Planet of the Apes figures, and myself.
Interviewer: How long does it take to make one set?
NIGO: Usually it takes 6 months or a year. But it took 2 years to make Beastie Boys action figures.
Interviewer: How many sets of the Beasties figures were made?
NIGO: 1,000 sets.
Interviewer: How are the heads made, especially the incredibly accurate faces?
NIGO: I asked Hama Hayao who is famous molding artist to make the face. He is so great.We took pictures of the Beastie Boys’ heads from every side, 360 degrees, as the data for the dolls. I lost the pictures though.
Interviewer: Do you make the clothes or does someone else?
NIGO: Yes. All clothing was made by A Bathing Ape. I made whole thing except face and body.
Interviewer: How did you decide on the outfits that they would come with?
NIGO: I tried to reproduce Hello Nasty album jacket for the action figures. And about the extraQuasar outfit, I and my friend Matt Takei had helped to find their uniforms in Tokyo when they had come to Tokyo for the Quasar tour. And I also helped to make their stickers to arrange the outfit with Beastie Boys’ direction. And Beastie Boys gave us their guitars as our friendship.
Interviewer: Is it safe to take them into the bathtub?
NIGO: NO WATER!!!

At the time the figures sold through GrandRoyal.com, aka the Beastie Boys 1992-2001 vanity record label which took a place on Beastie Boys records from the moment they left Def Jam Recordings to work with Capitol Records. The figures sold then for around $500 USD. The figures today cost $750, and all proceeds, again, go to charity. Two charities actually, that being The pablove foundation and Alex’s Lemonade Stand, both of these being foundations for childhood cancer.

The reason these fantastic figures are up for sale again after all this time is, first of all, the renaissance nature of the newest Beastie Boys record, “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two”, as well as the appearance of these figures in the newest music video of the moment, made for the newest single off the album: “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win” featuring the Beastie Boys and Santigold! Have a look at the video here:

As the original description notes, “these are some real limited edition, explicit, bottle service/ v.i.p. type items. And no, we are not trying to take you for all your Mozarell.” This “Motzarell” they speak of is of course the cash you’ll be laying down for said goods, and not taking it means they’re, again, sending it all in to the dialing charities. What the actual package contains is thus:

• 3 Action Figures (1 MCA, 1 Mike D, 1 Ad Rock – each 11.5″ tall)
• Action Figures come dressed in button down shirts, pants, and shoes
• 3 Doll Stands
• 3 White Jump Suits
• 3 Safety Goggles
• 3 pairs of Work Boots
• 3 Safety Vests
• 3 Belts
• 3 Japanese Decal Stickers
• 3 Extra Hand Attachments
• All inside a 16×12-inch metal box

This set also comes with the 2-disk special edition of the Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science complete with an 88 page full-color 11.3×11.3-inch book with photos and lyrics. All of this is, of course, while supplies last.

What do you think? Holidays close enough that you can toss a few dollars down on your old friends the Beastie Boys in a fabulous tin of three?

What is The Fold?

5haun — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 10:11:47 +0000

Does having things on one screen without scrolling make for a better website? Learn why ‘The Fold’ is an outdated concept that serves little purpose on a modern web.

What is The Fold?

The concept of “The Fold” stems back from print newspapers, where publishers wanted to get attention even when the paper was folded for distribution: putting your key content “Above The Fold”.

In the early days of the web it evolved to effectively mean, “before a scroll”. Early websites were keen to have as little scrolling as possible for many reasons:-

At the time the typical user was less than pleased to have to scroll what would then be considered a great distance (remember screen resolutions used to be a lot smaller meaning less could be fit on a screen)
Web design was in its infancy, mostly completed by those who came from the print industry who were used to working with the fold.
People had slow Internet connections, and longer pages where inherent with larger websites that took longer to download.

The Problem

The problem with the fold online is that it doesn’t actually exist. It’s a remnant of an old medium that doesn’t translate to digital. The reason that there is no fold online is because there are far too many screen resolutions (the number of pixels on screen, you could think of this as a monitor’s equivalent measurement to megapixels) and device possibilities (desktop computer, laptop, tablet, mobile phone, television, fridge) to be able to design around it. What is the fold for one device is a quarter of the page for another and the entire length for yet another.

“But I want everything without scrolling”

The idea of having key information available to a user with as little work as possible is (for most websites) sound. A charity with a “donate now” button near the top of the website will probably get more donations than one right at the bottom, but that doesn’t mean to say everything the charity does needs to be above the scroll. Modern internet users have become used to scrolling (if you’re still reading this, the chances are that you have scrolled already), modern devices try and make it ‘fun’ (for example the iPhone will bounce when you scroll) – but most importantly: pixels are free, so there is little use in squashing important details into a tiny space. When everything is together they all shout – and when everything is shouting at a user, nothing is heard.

Limitation or Opportunity?

To a seasoned web designer, being able to scrap the idea of the fold opens an opportunity to think outside of the box and display your content in a way that will keep your customers engaged and coming back for more. Life below 600px(600 pixels being what could be roughly guessed to be a ‘fold’) demonstrates that long pages don’t need to be cramped with information or daunting and suggests the idea providing a “prize” at the bottom of a webpage with a trail to it.

At Red Carrot we figure out the best way to display your content, not just the prettiest. We sit down with our customers and really get into their business to figure out key selling points and opportunities. Sometimes these are displayed best within a fold-led design, and other times they should breathe.